expansefandomcom-20200223-history
Amos Burton (TV)
|age = 30s - 40s |gender = Male |home = Baltimore, Earth, |occupation = Mechanic on the Canterbury Mechanic on the Rocinante |affiliation = Naomi Nagata Jim Holden Alex Kamal |family = |portrayed by = Wes Chatham |seasons = 1-5 |first appearance = |last appearance = |imdb = ch0508100 }} Amos Burton is a ship mechanic originating from Earth. Currently, he works aboard the and is one of the four crew members. A skilled mechanic and combatant, he is a master of survival in the dog-eat-dog world of the system, and has a tendency towards violence. }} Biography Background Amos served as a mechanic aboard the Pur'n'Kleen ice hauler, the Canterbury, which supplied water for the Asteroid Belt. He is an Earther who doesn't talk about his past – but knows a lot about brothels and Baltimore. He's eerily comfortable, and even cheerful, at the prospect of violence. Amos seems to have had a rough past with what little he reveals. In , while he and Alex are in a nightclub, Amos says that he "grew up in places like this," and makes vague reference to a history of sex work. He speaks with a slight Mid-Atlantic American accent common with those who grew on the North American east coast. Appearance Amos is a male with brown hair that he keeps short. earlier in the show, his hair is buzzed very short but he grows it out a bit more as time goes on, along with his five-o-clock shadow. He has a solid, angular jaw and his eyes are brown. Amos is of average height, but beyond average in build. He is very muscular and solidly built, being strong even for an Earther which gives him an advantage in hand-to-hand as he can pummel the living daylights out of anyone who tries fisticuffs with him, such as when he easily overpowers Miller when the detective took a swing at him. Throughout the series Season One = In , a small crew from the ice hauler Canterbury – Amos, , , and – respond to a distress call from a seemingly abandoned ship, the Scopuli. Once aboard, they discover the distress call was planted, with Amos pointed out that "Mac" was right: the Scopuli was bait. Shortly thereafter, Amos watches as a ship with advanced stealth technology blows up the Canterbury, killing all the crew aboard. In , with oxygen dwindling, Amos and the surviving crew of the Canterbury struggle to stay alive in their shuttle. Amos works with James outside the shuttle to fix the antenna, revealing his darker nature saying he was ambivalent whether or not to just rip James' helmet off and kick him off the shuttle except Naomi would disapprove. Together, they fix the antenna. They theorize the Canterbury’s destroyers were Martian, since the distress call transponder was of Martian Naval origins. Holden broadcasts a public message that implicates Mars in the attack, thus ensuring he and his crew won’t be killed by the MCR, for fear they will look more guilty. The message goes out just as a Martian warship, the Donnager, approaches the shuttle. In , the Martian Navy detains and interrogates Amos and his crewmates over Holden’s public accusation that Mars destroyed the Canterbury. When Amos discovers Alex’s past connection to the Martian navy, he gets suspicious of Alex’s motives and goes ballistic. He comes within seconds of attacking him, before Holden intervenes. In , the Donnager comes under attack by a fleet of stealth ships just like the one that destroyed the Canterbury. The crew realizes this indicates Mars’ innocence. When Alex panicks during the CQB situation, Amos mocks him for being "some tough mickey pilot." While Shed is killed by a railgun round passing through their room, Amos and Naomi quickly patch the holes. Left with little air, Alex suggests to sedate Amos since he's an Earther and uses more air, but Amos points out that Alex can't carry him but Amos could carry him. The three escape the destruction of the Donnager aboard a Martian frigate, the Tachi with Holden. In , Amos and his crewmates escape the Donnager’s destruction through the Martian frigate''Tachi''. They receive an offer of help and refuge from . After much debate, given Fred’s reputation, they decide to take him up on his offer, shortly before disguising the ship with the new name of the Rocinante. Amos personally agreed to this name, saying a woman by this name had once been good to him. In , Amos and his crewmates arrive on Tycho, where Fred Johnson reveals that he was the one that chartered the Scopuli. the ship whose distress call starts the chain of events that destroyed the Cant. He tells Holden he needs their ship, the Rocinante, to go find the Scopuli’s sole survivor – code name 'Lionel Polanski'. Holden agrees to lend the ship if he is part of the crew, as Lionel might be able to reveal who really destroyed the Canterbury. Fred agrees, and Holden, Naomi, Alex, and Amos decide to stick together until they get answers. In , on the way to retrieve Lionel Polanski, the person that can reveal who destroyed their ship, Amos and Co. are approached by a Martian patrol ship. Amos personally discovered 's spy, Kenzo, stowed away aboard the Rocinante hiding in a bulkhead. Amos proceeded to throw the spy into an airlock with threats to eject him into space, talking about how everyone is caught up in what an old boss of his called "the churn." With the Martian PT boat approaching, Amos takes a gun to the other airlock in case the Martians were to board, prepared to kill them and ignoring James putting a gun to his head. In the end the MCRN ship left, thanks to Kenzo telling them about black-ops codes hidden on the ship. In , Amos and the crew find The Anubis at the coordinates provided by Lionel Polanski. Amos is left with Kenzo, with orders to shoot hiim if he makes a wrong move, to investigate the bridge. Finding the ship's name, Amos askes Kenza "what is an-you-bis?" When Kenzo corrected his pronunciation, Amos glared him down. They realize the Anubis was the stealth ship that blew up the Canterbury and is filled with a dangerous substance that must have killed the crew. The crew traces the Anubis’ shuttle to Eros, where they meet and escape UN Undersecretary ’s team of assassins. Amos quickly realized they were in a trap and engaged the assassins first, killing two of them, with Miller killing the third. They find Lionel's romm only to discover the agent they’re looking for – - is dead and infected with the same strange substance. In and , Amos and his crew compare notes with Miller. Both parties realize that the trails they’re following point to the bioweapon that made its way from Phoebe. Eros goes on lockdown, and Miller deduces it’s the work of the same people responsible for the bioweapon. While Miller and Holden go searching for answers. Naomi, Alex and Amos head to the Rocinante to evacuate some survivors. Amos shoots Miller’s old friend, Sematimba, who was trying to force them to leave without Miller and Holden, who join shortly thereafter. Finding the two nearly passed out in the airlock from their radiation poisoning, he remarks that they "look like shit," and drags them inside. When Miller sees Setimba's body and asks what happened, Amos cooly tells him he shot the man. The five vow to go after , the scientist who is responsible for locking down Eros to use its population as an experiment for the bioweapon. |-| Season Two = In , in the aftermath of the Eros station disaster, Amos and the crew of the Rocinante are once again on the run, this time with a sample of the protomolecule, the extrasolar life form responsible for all of the havoc on Eros station. With so much at stake they decide to reconvene on Tycho with Fred Johnson, the very man who sent them there in the first place. In , once on board Tycho, the crew of the Rocinante hatch a plan to get rid of the protomolecule, the extra-solar life form that destroyed Eros. Amos and the crew of the Rocinante depart for Thoth, a Black Ops station hidden in the belt and the whereabouts of the foremost protomolecule scientists. In , After the battle on Thoth station, the crew of the Rocinante take some much-needed R&R. Amos quickly sets his sights on , the scientist recovered from the research station. Working with Holden, Amos is able to extract vital protomolecule information from Cortazar. In , Alex, Naomi, Holden and Amos take off with the massive generational ship the in tow, which will be used to destroy Eros and the protomolecule. Once they get close to Eros, they encounter a small rogue Belter ship, the Marasumus, has boarded Eros and been exposed to the protomolecule. Holden has no choice but to fire upon the Marasmus crew lest they infect the rest of the system with the protomolecule. Later, the Rocinante crew launches the Nauvoo into Eros, but the asteroid defies all physics and dodges the starship. In , with Eros now hurtling towards Earth at speeds that defy physics, Holden and the Rocinante crew convince the UN to give Fred Johnson the codes to a horde of nuclear missiles so that he can control them remotely through information the Rocinante feeds him. The UN agrees, but it’s Miller that saves the day when he convinces a protomolecule-Julie Mao hybrid controlling the asteroid to crash into Venus instead of Earth. In , Amos and the Rocinante crew return to Tycho and are hailed as heroes. Alex regales a group of women at a Tycho bar, with tales of his adventures when a jealous Belter picks a fight with him. Amos steps in and beats the man half to death, shocking Alex in the process. Alex doesn’t know what to make of Amos’ gesture, but it appears to cause a rift between the two. Worried about the sample of the protomolecule still in the Rocinante’s possession getting in the wrong hands, Holden convinces the rest of his crew to blast it into the Sun to destroy it. Naomi, thinking it may be valuable to the Belters, secretly saves it, lying to Holden in the process. In , Amos and the crew of the Rocinante are pitching in to help the Ganymede refugees. When Amos tries to prevent a refugee from stealing more than her share, he accidentally lashes out at her. Amos confides in Cortazar and asks him about the procedure he underwent to get rid of his emotionality; he wonders if it's possible to reverse-engineer a cure for his own psychological condition. But Cortazar dashes his hopes, sending Amos into a tailspin. In , Alex and Amos continue to clash over offering help to the people of Tycho. After the disaster they both witnessed on Eros, Alex can't stand that Amos is totally unaffected and tensions between the two are raw when they depart for Ganymede. Amos may be an unfeeling murderer, but when he meets , a father who hopes to find alive on Ganymede, it awakens in him a sense of purpose. In , Amos and the crew of the Rocinante are en route to Ganymede, but need a way onto the damaged Jupiter moon that is less conspicuous than boarding with a Martian gun ship. They hitch a ride on an aid ship called the and conscript the unwilling help of two Belters for safe passage to Ganymede. In , Amos and the rest of the Rocinante crew, sans Alex, begin to canvas Ganymede for any signs of Prax’ daughter. Their search leads them to a corrupt video technician named Roma, who is exchanging his access to the video feeds for canned chicken. After some aggressive negotiations from Amos, they find the last video of Prax’ daughter alive, being lead into the bowels of Ganymede. In , on Ganymede, Amos and the Roci crew attempt to locate where Strickland was taking Mei. They find Strickland’s cronies and appear to be ready to negotiate when Prax sees Mei’s backpack and goes ballistic. In the ensuing gunfight, Amos gets shot before Strickland’s crew escapes. Afterwards, they find one of Strickland’s test subjects. It appears that he was injecting protomolecule into humans. Outside of the lab, they hear a massive explosion and confrontation; someone or something destroyed the lab and everyone in it. Naomi thinks she can do more good by helping Melissa on the Weeping Somnambulist get as many people off Ganymede as possible. She and Amos leave the rest of the team. In , Naomi and Amos approach Melissa Suputayaporn, the captain of the Weeping Somnambulist, to offer their help in getting civilians safely off Ganymede. Melissa is hesitant to let them help until she sees how handy Naomi is in repairing her ship. After being shot in the research facility, Amos is far from having fully recovered and is forced to take a back seat as Naomi and Melissa prepare the ship for take-off. When they finally do take off, they are immediately target locked by MCRN vessel who have explicit instructions not to let any ship leave Ganymede. When they are fired upon, they can do nothing except brace for impact, but Holden and Alex manage to save them with the Rocinante’s rail guns. The two ships depart Ganymede together. In , Amos returns on the Rocinante. Soon thereafter, he and the crew discover a human-protomolecule hybrid aboard the ship and must construct a plan to destroy it. In the ensuing battle, Holden gets pinned to the wall by one of the freighter boxes that the creature hurled at him. Luckily, the creature seems more interested in finding the ship's nuclear power-source than killing the captain. Prax and Naomi board the exterior of the ship with one of the Roci’s nuclear missiles and, when Alex cuts power from the Epstein Drive, the creature is attracted to the energy of the missiles. Prax hurls the missiles in space, and the creature leaps after it. Then, Alex turns on the engines to incinerate the hybrid. |-| Season Three = |-| Season Four = Personality Amos can be an invaluable ally or your worst possible enemy, depending on whether he deems you an ally or a threat. He is intensely practical, straightforward, and almost fearless. His sense of morality is definitely not in the mainstream, which is why he looks to Naomi for guidance. However, if Naomi does not intervene or is not available, his actions can appear impulsive and amoral. Amos is aware of his unusual personality, and while he rarely shows remorse for his actions, he has demonstrated concern about his own state of mind, meaning he understands that the way he treats others is wrong. When it is discovered that a captured scientist has undergone a magnetic lobotomy to erase his empathy, Amos privately interrogates him ask a doctor later if the process is reversible. Amos is also analytical, quick-thinking, and very aware of his surroundings. In the hotel lobby on Eros, he quickly surmised (correctly) that the three strangers were setting up an ambush. Equipment Despite his seemingly-sociopathic quirks, Amos is a gifted mechanic, using a special sealant patch to repair the Rocinante mid-battle, as well as utilizing a portable cutting torch to cut the air supply to Fred Johnson's office, resolving the hostage situation on Tycho station. Amos is also adept with magnetic boots and gloves, a requirement in low-gravity environments. In addition to his mechanical aptitude, Amos is a capable combatant and often brandishes a shotgun in close encounters. He almost always carries a handgun as well. Relationships While he does seem to get on well with some people (so long as they have earned his or Naomi's trust), his extreme (but not unearned) cynicism prevents him from developing meaningful relationships with others - only understandings based on costs and benefits; alliances and nothing more. He exhibits respect and even affection for both Alex Kamal and James Holden at various points but when conflict arises he demonstrates that he is willing to abandon, cripple or even kill them if the situation calls for it. As time goes on, however, he becomes more protective of Alex and James. The exception to this is Naomi, to whom he has a deep personal attachment. Both view their relationship as something of a sibling relationship, with Naomi being the 'big' sister and Amos's guiding hand. Amos, in turn, looks to Naomi for guidance and he uses her as his moral compass. Throughout the series, whenever there is a major decision to be made, especially where lives are on the line, Amos always sides with Naomi and will use force to shift the status quo in their favor when necessary. He will even follow Naomi in dangerous or apparently suicidal situations, something he would likely not do otherwise. He is even aware that, if it were not for his deference to Naomi's moral judgment, he would probably just hurt or kill anyone who seems to get in his way, as he implies in this quote in "Dulcinea:" }} When Naomi attempts to repair the so that they can evacuate civilians, Amos attempts to physically overpower Naomi, seeking to protect her from the desperate and potentially violent colonists; in response, Naomi renders him temporarily paralyzed with doses of sedative. Discussing the situation later, Naomi seems about to apologize, when Amos interrupts her: "I'm sorry you had to put me down - that couldn't have been easy. I've been trying to make decisions on my own lately; I just seem to keep making the wrong ones." At first glance, his behavior would seem to come across as the result of a personality disorder like sociopathy. His cynicism or deep trust issues would appear to be a lack of empathy while his tendency towards violence would seem to stem from a lack of conscience. But the fact that he is willing to put his life on the line for others, that he grasps the concept of good and evil, and can form personal relationships go against this idea. Appearances =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears }} =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears }} =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears }} =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears | =appears }} Media Images = File:TheExpanse-Amos.jpg File:TheExpanse_recap_107.jpg File:Amos Burton.jpg File:Amos_Burton_2.jpg File:TheExpanse-Amos-profile-pic.jpg File:S02E07-WesChatham as AmosBurton 00.png File:S02E07-WesChatham as AmosBurton 00c.jpg Amos S04E02.jpg|Amos in season 4 Amos S04E03.jpg|Amos in season 4 |-| Videos = File:THE_EXPANSE_Inside_the_Expanse_Season_2,_Episode_8_Syfy External links *''OLD'' }} Category:Characters (TV) Category:Male Characters (TV) Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Earthers Category:Male